Pharrell Williams Was 'on the Fence' About Family Appearing in Doc: 'Like to Keep My Private Life Just Private' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Pharrell Williams on Sept. 8, 2024.Photo:Tracey Biel/Variety via Getty

Tracey Biel/Variety via Getty

Director Morgan Neville, who previously helmed the Mister Rogers documentaryWon’t You Be My Neighbor,along with50 Feet From Stardom,ultimately convinced the star to include wifeHelen Lasichanhand their family in the movie.“I was on the fence. I didn’t know if I really wanted to have my family in it, but, again, I turned everything over to him, so I followed his direction,” Williams, 51, tells PEOPLE at the 2024Toronto International Film Festival.

“He’s the director, right? So we followed his direction. It was cool,” Williams said at the PEOPLE /Entertainment Weeklysuite at the festival. “I’d like to keep my private life just private, but this was a moment where it was just like, ‘Nope, let me let Morgan drive. He sees something that I don’t see. Let him go.’ And he did.”

The “Happy” hitmaker married wife Lasichanh, 44, in 2013, and they share four children, including their oldest son Rocket andtriplets whom the couple welcomedin January 2017. Williams and Lasichanh typically keep their personal lives private and have not publicly revealed their triplets' names.

Piece By Piece poster.Courtesy of Focus Features

Courtesy of Focus Features

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“It’s interesting, man. It’s interesting. It’s different. It’s a whole other thing,” he tells PEOPLE of family life, now that his youngest children are 7 years old. “I’m 51. I love it. I love my children. I love watching them. I love that they exist.”

“If fruition could be a verb, I wouldfruitit. I loved watching themfruit. It could be a verb. I love watching them manifest. I just am very grateful to God and my wife that we were able to bring in four more souls in a crazy, crazy world and find our way. I’m very grateful.”

The new Williams-focused, LEGO-animated documentary wasannouncedback in January 2024. Thefirst trailer for the filmreleased in June, teasing appearances from Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Busta Rhymes, JAY-Z and Snoop Dogg — all in LEGO form.

“It’s what I always played with when I was young. It’s what I would get for Christmas. And then when we had our first [child], Rocket, I would always send him little LEGO sets or pick them up, rather, from different places around the world,” he says.

“Right around that time we had just had the triplets, I knew that I wanted the triplets to hear and understand my story too. So it just all made sense, you know what I mean? I wanted it so that they could see Dad tell his story.”

source: people.com